TO: The Honorable Rob Bishop, Chairman FROM: Dan Ashe, Director Dear Chairman Bishop, Thank you for your letter of April 2, 2015, regarding the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) recent proposals of two rules implementing the Clean Air Act. As discussed at the March 19,20 15, joint hearing before the Subcommittees on Water,Power, Oceans and Federal Lands, EPA has… Read more »

TO: The Honorable Louie Gohmert FROM: Joseph G. Pizarchik, Director Dear Mr. Chairman, Thank you for your letter dated April 2, 2015, cosigned by Representatives, Bishop, Lamborn, and Mooney, regarding state cooperating agency involvement in providing input on the preparation of the Stream Protection Rule (SPR) Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). Read the Director's… Read more »

TO: The Honorable Rob Bishop FROM: Joseph G. Pizarchik, Director Dear Mr. Chairman, Thank you for your letter dated April 2, 2015, cosigned by Representatives, Gohmert, Lamborn,and Mooney, regarding state cooperating agency involvement in providing input on the preparation of the Stream Protection Rule (SPR) Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). Read the Director's entire… Read more »

TO: The Honorable Louie Gohmert FROM: Kim Thorsen, Deputy Assistant Secretary  Thank you for your letter of March 27, 2015 requesting information about Department of Homeland Security (DHS) access to Department of the Interior (DOI) lands in the four southwestern states bordering Mexico.  The Secretary has asked that I provide this response to you on her behalf.  Read… Read more »

TO: The Honorable Joseph Pizarchik  FROM: Rob Bishop, Chairman Dear Director Pizarchik:  On February 23, 2015, eleven state agencies that had previously entered into a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") with the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement ("OSM") concerning the development of an environmental impact statement ("EIS") for the new Stream Protection… Read more »

TO: The Honorable Dan Ashe FROM: Rob Bishop, Chairman Dear Director Ashe:  At the joint hearing before the Subcommittees on Water, Power, and Oceans and Federal Lands held on March 19,2015, you confirmed that the Fish and Wildlife Service ("FWS") has not consulted with the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") on whether two major forthcoming EPA Clean Air Act… Read more »

TO: The Honorable Dan Ashe FROM: Rob Bishop, Chairman Dear Director Ashe:  On March 4. 2015, I sent you a letter requesting certain information regarding the proposed listing of the Northern Long-Eared Bat ("NLEB"). Specifically, the letter requested that you provide, among other things, "data, population models, or any other analytical tools used which demonstrate (1)… Read more »

TO: The Honorable Jeh Johnson FROM: Rob Bishop, Chairman Dear Secretary Johnson, The Department of the Interior ("DOI") manages millions of acres on our Southern border under a variety of restrictive law and regulations.  The Committee on Natural Resources ("Committee") has continually expressed concerns that the resulting impediments to access available to the Department of… Read more »

TO: The Honorable Sally Jewell FROM: Rob Bishop, Chairman Dear Secretary Jewell, The Department of the Interior ("DOI") manages millions of acres on our Southern border under a variety of restrictive laws and regulations.  The Committee on Natural Resources ("Committee") has continually expressed concerns that the resulting impediments to access available to the Department of… Read more »

TO: The Honorable Sally Jewell FROM: Rob Bishop, Chairman Dear Madam Secretary: We are writing to request your cooperation in evaluating the procedures used for acknowledging tribal status and the impacts of modifying the regulations governing such determinations. The Department of the Interior has published proposed regulations to modify the tribal acknowledgment regulations set… Read more »